Process of treating mineral wool.



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, Cross flieretence NITED"STATESWPKTENTW OFFICE ALEXANDER D. ELBERsfoF HoBoKEN, NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS OF TREAIlljIG MINERAL WOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 653,077, dated July 3, 1900. Application filed Dctuber 23,1899- Berisl No. 734,546. (No specimens.) v

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER D. ELBERS, of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and ,5 useful Improvement in Processes of Treating Mineral Wool, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to the conversion of mineral wool into elastic bricks, sheets, seciona pipe-coverings, and similar moldings.

The invention consists in making elastic mineral wool moldings in the manner hereinafter specified, and it also consists in the new articles of manufacture thereby produced.

sulating heat and cold and sound for over twenty years past few devices have thus far either been made known or put into operation whereby this material can be applied in a practical and marketable manner, excepting to pack or stuff-it in its loose state into the spaces that are to bedeafened. In ap- 1 plying it in its loose state toboilers and steampipes it has to be held in place by a jacket or z 5 casing especially provided for that purpose, which mode of application costs about twice as much or more than the wool itself, and in deafening walls it has to be forced into narrow spaces that must be boarded up as the work of stuffing progresses, a manipulation that has to beperformed with great care if the work is to prove satisfactory. Moreover, such deafenings are apt to sag considerably when they get wet, and for the following rea- 3 5 sons: In applying ordinary mineral woolit is usually stuifed to a density of about eighteen pounds to the cubic foot. It then contains about nine volumes of air to one volume of solid substance, and consequently can absorb about three times its own weight of water, which is more than it can sustain without settling. Hence such deafenings may become seriously damaged in roofs and walls by leakage during heavy rains, and pipe and boiler coverings are apt to become affected in a similar way by the condensation of escap ing steam. All of these disadvantages are. obviated by my invention, which renders it possible to apply min eralwool in its most desirable state of compression and consistency,

space is to be lined three feet in the clear between timbers or joists and three inches deep, the wool may be applied in the shape 5 5 of elastic bricks nine by four by three inches in size, of which twelve will be required fora course one foot high, or thirty-six for a square yard. A brick of that size will weigh nearly one and three-quarters pounds, or at the rate of one-quarter of an ounce per cubic inch and twenty-seven pounds to the cubic foot, and at that weight it will contain nearly five and one-half volumes of air to one volume of solid substance, at which density the material attains about its highest degree of efficiency as a non-conductor. In laying the bricks they are to be pressed against each other rather o tightly, and then the courses will stay in place and may be carried up to the ceiling without beingboarded up. The bricks may also be cemented together by wetting their contacting surfaces with a suitable agglutinatiug solution, but this is not necessary if the deafened spaces a!:e.- later .onto be lathed or boarded up. For covering boilers the'wool canbe molded into sheets that are sufiiciently pliable to be bent to the required curvature, and for covering pipes it can be molded into semicircular sections about a foot long that 80, are easily fastened upon the pipes with a piece of string or wire. For all of these applications it is essential that the moldings-should be somewhat elastic (as otherwise they could not be joined tightly by merely pressing them together) as well as suiiiciently tough to withstand rather rough usage, the latter property being especially desirable for the commoner or cheaper products, such as the bricks, because they may then be shipped in bulkfgo thereby saving the important item of package; and the novelty of my invention consists chiefly in the discovery of the method by which such results can be produced.

The agglutinating properties of more or less diluted solutions of silicates of soda and e so uotash are we uown, an even Exon's'oi c tic lkalies and their carbonates have simiiar though less pronounced'eii'e'cts ou such compositions as mineral wool consists mo of; {it mighttherefore'beconsidered a very simple mattefto' 'eonvert mineral wool into molded material .ofthe desired properties by as well as in shapes that are suitable-for the intendedapplication. If, for instance, awall I reducing it in admixture with such solutions LMMINI:H

to a wet such treatment,

fi brous parts. the wet state,

the moldin drying.

of sufi'icient lightness I now proceed tion can be carried out.

I prefer to treat the root from the collectingabout the best condit molds. For articles only consist of top and bottom of sheet metal.

compressed in them.

pressed in by hand unt little when the pressnr mold has been filled reversed in order to s surface has become un quires some more tents are in good capillary action.

Their de mineral wool at or near the works where it is made in order to be able to obtain it without much han stuffing.

pulp, pressing the latter i compressed wool s rapidly soaked once reversed, so come exposed to mass is slightly s progressing, the

wool pulp that d with a soluyield moldings to describe how my invencubic foot, which is ion for pressing it into of compact form and plane surfaces, such as bricks, the mold need a rectangular frame open at and resting on a flat tray. More complicated forms need not be here considered, because any practical molder. will readily know how to construct them after becoming acquainted with the peculiarities of the material, as herein described. The brick-molds may be 'made either of wood or pth should be about one-sixth more than that of the moldings that are to be turned out, and the forated or provided with s sides for the purpose of allowing the air to escape more freely whil y-should be permall holes on all e the wool is being The wool should be i1 it will bulge out a. e is relaxed. After a in that way it is-to be e whether the bottom iform or whether it re- When the conshape, about as much of the agglutinating liquor is poured into the tray as the weight of the amounts to. The liquor i up, especially if the mold is that both open surfaces be If the pressed while .this action i n molds, the finest es that are ere to the vIt such a mass is stirred in the shot separates b and collects in spots, andthe pl the mass becomes thereby reduc an extent that it will not hold together after molding unless it has been treated with an agglutinating solution of such strength that s will become hard and brittle in oreover, a mineralhas been completely saturate tion becomes too compact to y gravity asticity of ed to such dling dichambers into which almost a necessity, beers break at every hance packed for shipment in bags or barrels they form lumps of different degrees of compactness and then cannot be loosened again like cotton or other organic fiber, to be made up into a uniform material. The wool can be easily taken out of the collecting-chambers in rather uniform layei compressed to a density of about ten or twelve pounds to the liquor penetrates the whole mass without filling its interstices completely. Hence only five pounds of liquor are required for impregnating one'huudred pounds of mineral wool, whereas nearly two hundred pounds would be required to saturate that quantity completely. When the contents of the mold are thoroughly moistened, they are subjected to a slight pressure, which is best performed in order to reduce the thickness ofthe molding to the desired dimensions. "The brick is then pressed out of ...the mold and placed on a board for preliminary drying, and after an "hour or two it may be taken to a dryingroom, where it will loose all of its moisture within three orfour hours,'provided the temperature of the room is kept up to about 300 Fahrenheit. The dried brick is then ready for use, and, if properly made, of suflicient toughness to be shipped in bulk.

It stands to reason that the required manipulations may be varied in various ways and that some of them may be performed by wellknown mechanical and automatical appliances.

' The agglutinatin g liquor I prepare, by preference, from the liquid silicate of soda of commerce, which usually consists of from fortyfive to forty-seven per cent. of the anhydrous substance and from fifty-five to fifty-three per cent. of water. Calling this, for short, a F fiftyper-cent. solution, I find that by reducing it to a one-per-cent. solution (by mixing one pound with forty-nine pounds of hot water) I obtain a liquor that has sufiicient agglutinating power to answer the purpose of bonding compressed mineral wool, and with a twoper-cent. solution I have made bricks that retain their shape after having been immersed in hot water (212 Fahrenheit) for three hours. A four-per-cent. solution is apt to render the surfaces of the moldings too inelastic. Stronger solutions are apt to render them quite stiff and brittle, and as my invention consists in making elastic mineral-wool moldin gs I claim, therefore, only the use of highlyattenuated agglutinatin g solutions and, in the case of silicate of soda, solutions having a lower specific gravity than 1.05.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 7 1. The herein-described method of making elastic mineral-wool moldings, which consists in compressing loose mineral wool as evenly as practicable to a suitable density, in molding the compressed wool in the dry state, in thoroughly permeating the moldings with a suitable agglutinating solution without saturating them fully with it, and in drying the moldings thus prepared.

' 2. The herein-described method of making elastic mineral-wool moldings, which consists in compressing loose mineral wool as evenly as practicable to a suitable state of density,

from one hundred to one hundred and twenty with a lid or plunger that fits into the mold 106. COMPOSITIONS,

00mm; 0R PLASTIC.

in molding the compressed wool in the dry state, in bringing each molding in contact with about as much of an agglutinatingsolution as it is to absorb, and in furthering the capillary action of the solution by subjecting the absorbing mass to slight pressure until it is thoroughly permeated by the solution, and in drying the moldings thus prepared.

3. The herein-described method of making elastic mineral-wool moldings, which consists in compressing loose mineral wool as evenly as practicable to a suitable density, in molding the compressed wool in the dry state, in thoroughly permeating the moldings with a highly-attenuated solution of alkaline silicate without fully saturating them with it, and in drying the moldings thus prepared.

4. The herein-described method of making elastic mineral-wool moldings, which consists in compressing loose mineral wool as evenly as practicable to a suitable density, in molding the compressed wool in the dry state, in thoroughly permeating the moldings with a solution of silicate of soda of less than 1.05 specific gravity without fully saturating them with it, and in drying the moldings thus prepared.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' ALEXANDER D. ELBERS. Witnesses: j

J. FRED. ACKER, JNo. M. BITTER.

5'3) 0 {WIN 

